


What is in a name

by NCC_1019



Category: The Magicians (TV), The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Idiots in Love, M/M, casual touching, have they ever not dated, so weird that 4.13 didn't air
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 16:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19254694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NCC_1019/pseuds/NCC_1019
Summary: Queliot Week 2019 Prompt 1: Fake Dating/MarriageWhen Quentin is invited to a party he asks Eliot to be his fake boyfriend. Naturally that gets to much for Quentin. But maybe that is a good thing?





	What is in a name

“Can I borrow you for a minute, Eliot?” Quentin didn’t give Eliot time to answer. He just pulled the taller man out of the seat next to the window and lead him out of the room while holding his hand. This had happened so often over the years, first at Brakebills and later on at Kadys apartment, no one bate an eye at it. Margo just waved after them unbothered by her conversation with Eliot being cut short and took up a random book and started to read. 

 

Quentin dragged Eliot out of the room and upstairs to his bedroom. 

“Q I know it has been a while for you and I do feel faltered, but what will the others say? You dragging me off to your room. Very scandalous.” Eliot smiled his sly smile but Quentin was to coughed up in his head to register Eliots remark. 

He motioned for Eliot to sit on his bed, but instead of sitting next to him like they usually did, he kept standing in front of Eliot. 

“Listen Eliot. I know it’s a weird request but I need you to be my boyfriend for a few days.” 

“We are not in some trashy romance novel, Q. Why in the world would you need me to be your boyfriend.” 

“Well … you see … there is this family thing Alice is dragging me to and I owe her a favor so I can’t say no. But … but she and I are just friends, nothing more. And I don’t want anyone to think, that there is anything else between us and I don’t want to go there with just Alice. Her folks are weird and I don’t really know how to deal with them. Especially now that we are no longer dating. So please will you come with me as my fake boyfriend? You are so good with strange people. No, you are very good at social gatherings and I could really use your help.”

“Are you finished yet?” Quentin just nodded. “OK. So you want me to come with you to this gathering and pretend to be your boyfriend.” 

“Yeah kind of.” Quentins voice was soft and that was all it took for Eliot to agree. 

“All right I’ll do it. But you owe me. Like an hour long massage and worshiping me for a week or something like that.” 

 

It was a week later and Quentin and Eliot were sitting in an almost empty train on their way to the gathering. 

“Tell me again why we’re taking the long way?” Eliot was flipping through a magazine without really paying attention to it. Now and again he would gaze at Quentin.

“I thought we could spend some time together and …” his voice dropped to a whisper “could go over what we should do to look like a couple.” 

“Well then followup question. Why are you sitting so far away?” With that Eliot tucked Quentin closer and held up his arm so that Quentin could lean on him. Without a second thought Quentin snuggled up to Eliot and smiled. It was kind of weird how easy it was to touch Quentin. For a while they just sat there and Quentins eyes felt close. He had been so worried about this trip that he had barely slept at all. 

 

He woke up suddenly, someone shaking him awake.

“Sorry to startle you but we’ll be there shortly and I thought you might want to wake up properly before we arrive at the station.” 

Quentin mumbled a thank you but snuggled close to Eliot again, not being ready to leave this comfortable position and the closeness to Eliot.

“Sorry for falling asleep on you. Here I was the one suggesting we take the train so we have time together and then I leave you bored while I sleep.” 

Eliot just shook his head his eyes going soft and his voice matched his eyes. 

“Hey, no worries. You looked exhausted. And I don’t mind having an eye on you while you sleep. That way I can make sure that you are ok. Also you look adorable when you sleep and you snore. It was very entertaining.” He petted Quentins hair and kissed his forehead.

“I no longer mind being by myself. There are some things one must get accustomed to when being inhabited by a monster.” He said that without shivering, which was a huge step for Eliot. Quentin was actually proud of him. 

“But now we couldn’t practice looking like a couple.” Quentin whined. 

“Q, look at us. I don’t think we actually need practice. Or rather we’ve been practicing for years. No one will notice.” He kissed Quentin on his forehead again and then proceeded to stand up, giving Quentin no other choice but to stand up as well. They gathered their things and made their way towards the doors while the train arrived at the station. 

“Who has snatched the very important task of picking us up?” 

“Alice will pick us up.” 

“Oh yey.” Eliots voice was so thick with sarcasm it was palpable. 

“Be nice. She invited us and Alice is an amazing woman.”

“Yes I know that and I appreciate her and all she can do. I just don’t like her around you. You tend to do stupid things when she is around.”

“This is her party and I told you that she would be there. You can’t be surprised that she is.”

“I’m not. But I’m here for you and only for you. I will play nice, but only because you don’t like when I cause a scene.” Eliot intertwined their hand again.

 

Alice was waiting for them in front of the station. 

“Oh tank god you are here.” She hugged Quentin tightly and gave Eliot a similar hug.

“I don’t think I can stomach this on my own. They are insane already. My parents already proceeded to take of most of their cloths and some of the others staring to follow. I was so happy that I could get away to pick you up.” While they were on their way to the party Alice had clear that Quentin and Eliot were to be at her side at all times and that she would probably get drunk as soon as she rejoined the party. When they arrived at the house they were greeted by the sight of probably a dozen mid fifty people all in various stages of unclothing. 

“The others are probably already in the pool.”

“This seems like my kind of party.” Eliot said but in contrast to his words he stepped closer towards Quentin and put his arm around Quentins shoulders. 

“That is something we could join if you wanted. It would sell our story that we are a couple perfectly.” He whispered into Quentins ear. 

Someone was coming by with a tray of wine glasses and Alice went on to drown one in one go. She placed the glass back on the tray and took up another one. With this she only sipped the wine. Quentin took two of the tray and wanted to hand over one to Eliot who declined.

“Not something I do anymore. I think I had enough alcohol poisoning to last me a life time.”

“Very wise.” Quentin said with a smile handing to second glass to Alice and placing his now free hand on Eliots leg. It was an awkward gesture but he needed to put his hand on Eliot and this was the easiest place to reach. Eliot shivered slightly but smiled and his hold on Quentins shoulder got tighter. 

 

The evening passed by them. Quentin and Eliot where trapped in their little bubble. They did interact with Alice family but in general they kept to themselves and had an eye on Alice. When she proceeded to take of her clothes as well, because she was that drunk, they brought her to her room and put her in bed. She was asleep within a few minutes.

“Lets go get some air.” Eliot suggested and so they made there way to the garden which was thankfully unoccupied because it was a little fresh and you could smoke inside. 

 

Quentin was sitting in front of Eliot. Quentins behavior had changed as fast as he had sat down. He couldn’t meet Eliot’s eyes and kept fiddling with his hands. Once in a while he would tuck away his hair only for it to fall back into his face as soon as he moved his head. 

“I’m sorry. I just can’t keep doing this. It just … I don’t know. It feels weird and wrong and … I have no idea what I’m doing. I just don’t like it.”

“Q …  what do you mean? I can’t actually read your mind. I’m not Penny.”

“This fake dating thing. This being so close to you. It was a mistake to ask you.” Quentins voice was  weak .

“Quentin  it was you who asked me to be your fake boyfriend. This wasn’t my idea.” Eliots voice was thinner than usually, but Quentin didn’t seem to  notice. 

“I know and I am sorry for that.”

“Why did you do it?”

“What?”

“Why did you ask me to be your fake boyfriend? There are so many people around you who would have made a perfectly good significant other. Almost all of them better then me, well except Josh. So why me. Why not Julia or Margo or Alice or even Penny. Why me?”

That seemed to get Quentins attention because he finally looked at Eliot. But this time Eliot couldn’t bear to look at Quentin. He couldn’t bear to see the confusion in his eyes and the general lack of understanding that Eliot wanted nothing more that to be Quentins actual boyfriend. 

“They knew Alice  and I  are broken up .  Going with her and everyone assuming we were back together, I don’t think I could have handled that. Although I  thought  about it at first. It would have been so easy to pretend. I mean that was what we were doing for a long time while we were actually dating.” Quentin wasn’t  babbling this time. He wanted to tell Eliot why he was acted the way he did. “And I don’t think I would have made it through 20 minutes with Penny as my fake boyfriend. Can you imagine? We would have insulted each other within the first few minutes and not in the cute way.  And Julia, well we had to much history. I don’t think anyone would have believed that we were dating. We are just to much like siblings.” “But you had a crush on her for the longest time, Q.” “Yes but she always treated me like a little brother. It just wouldn’t have worked.  And with you … it’s different.  I … I’ve always had a bit of a crush on you. Ever since I saw you blowing that first year student in my first year.”  Now that Quentin had started he couldn’t stop. “I kept thinking why you would hang out with me over the break but you wouldn’t want to make a move on me. In the end I was glad you didn’t. That’s how we became such close friends. But every now and then I wished that you would have asked me. And after our time in Fillroy  I’m so fucking in love with you.” Quentin seemed to realize the scale of his feelings in the moment he spoke those words. “I love you Eliot. I love you. I fell in love with you in Fillroy and ever since we are back in this reality fell in love with you every single day. I’m not going to take no as an answer anymore. We work not just in Fillory and not just when there is nothing but us. We work here, us … this … it works and I love you. Please tell me you see that. Please tell me you don’t need more proof of concept. So tell me why the fuck not.” Quentins eyes started to fill and tears started to fall mid speech. At some point he had taken Eliots hands into his and gently stroked his thump over them. Now he  la id a single kiss on them and locked eyes with Eliot.  Eliot also had tears in his eyes. 

“Why the fuck not.” Eliots voice was faint and thick with tears. “I was scared. I’m so sorry Q. I was so fucking scared.” Quentin had never seen Eliot so bare. Eliot never really shared his emotions. Even at those times where he actually gotten to know Eliot, like the time Eliot told him how he discovered his powers, Eliot hid behind a mask. He never let down his walls. This felt different. This felt like the Eliot behind the walls. “I still am so scared. But if I’m ever going to be brave it has to be now. I’m scared of admitting my feelings. That I get what I really want for even just a second and that I have to lose it again. If this between us never happens I never have to lose it. I never have to experience what it is to know how it feels to be with you and n ot being able to be with you. You would never get the chance to walk out on me and I know that there will come a time where you want to.” 

“But we were together in Fillroy in the past and I never walked out on you there.”

“You didn’t have a choice. I already told you that. We wouldn’t be together if we had a choice. I know how dedicated you were to the quest, you wouldn’t have abandoned the quest and as long as I was working on it as well you wouldn’t walk out on me. I knew that. What I didn’t know and I still don’t know is if you would stick with me here. You can chose here without anything holding you back and I’m scared that I wont be enough for you. I have never been enough.” Silence fell and Eliot waited for Quentin to say anything. Quentin however stayed silent. At some point Eliot let out a long breath and released Quentins hands. His hands came up to Quentins face and rested to either side of Quentins face. Eliot gazed at Quentin for a few seconds before he focused on him again  and resumed talking. 

“I know you need to hear this and I need to say it. But it’s not easy for me to say it and I don’t say it lightly and if I say it there will be no backing out of it. You will be stuck with me. That’s it. You and me. I’m not saying that we can’t negotiate the terms of our relationship and that I’m not open to almost everything. In particular kinky stuff … you know me. But you don’t get to leave me and we will have a long and happy life together. That also includes you not leaving me because you feel bad for your ex-girlfriend or playing the hero and sacrificing yourself. The last point is very important for me! And I don’t mean that you don’t get to break. If you break I will be there to help pick up the pieces. But I need you here to do all of this together with you. Are you sure you want this and that this is something you are up to. Because if it’s not you get up now and leave and we will never speak of this again. That is the only way I could survive you leaving, if you do it now.” 

Eliot  gave Quentin the opportunity to leave. Quentin just shook his head and smiled lightly. Eliot let his head fall forward slowly and rested his forehead against Quentins while closing his eyes. 

“I love you Quentin Coldwater. I am in love with you and I finally want this. Peaches and plums motherfucker, peaches and plums.”  Eliot started to smile at his words as well and Quentins smile deepened. “Fucking finally. Took you long enough. Now kiss me.” There was nothing that  E liot wanted to do more in this moment and so he lower e d his lips to Quentins and seal e d the deal with a kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wanted to make this a real slow burn and write their interactions with Alice family and some very awkward conversations but alas I miscalculated with the time and had to leave that out. Maybe I'll revisit this work in the future and I'll add a bit to it. Who knows ...


End file.
